Memory system and operation method thereof

ABSTRACT

A memory system may include: a memory device comprising a plurality of memory blocks each having N word line groups; and a controller suitable for: selecting bad memory blocks among the plurality of memory blocks, arranging normal word line groups of the selected bad memory blocks into one or more memory-block-word-line groups each including non-conflicting N normal word line groups, and managing each of the memory-block-word-line groups as a reused memory block.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2016-0143307, filed on Oct. 31, 2016, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a memory system and, more particularly, to a memory system for processing data to and from a memory device, and an operation method thereof.

2. Description of the Related Art

The computer environment paradigm has changed to ubiquitous computing systems that can be used anytime and anywhere. Due to this, use of portable electronic devices such as mobile phones, digital cameras, and notebook computers has rapidly increased. These portable electronic devices generally use a memory system having one or more memory devices for storing data. A memory system may be used as a main memory device or an auxiliary memory device of a portable electronic device.

Memory systems provide excellent stability, durability, high information access speed, and low power consumption because they have no moving parts. Examples of memory systems having such advantages include universal serial bus (USB) memory devices, memory cards having various interfaces, and solid state drives (SSD).

SUMMARY

Various embodiments are directed to a memory system capable of reusing a bad memory block including a bad word line, and an operation method thereof.

In an embodiment, a memory system may include: a memory device comprising a plurality of memory blocks each having N word line groups; and a controller suitable for: selecting bad memory blocks among the plurality of memory blocks, arranging normal word line groups of the selected bad memory blocks into one or more memory-block-word-line groups each including non-conflicting N normal word line groups, and managing each of the memory-block-word-line groups as a reused memory block.

The controller may further generate a reused block table which stores one or more reused memory block information respectively corresponding to the memory-block-word-line groups, and each of the reused memory block information may have been N regions respectively representing the non-conflicting N normal word line groups included in the corresponding memory-block-word-line group through physical addresses of selected bad memory blocks of the corresponding memory-block-word-line groups.

The controller may further allocate physical addresses to the respective reused memory block information, and the physical addresses of the respective reused memory block information may be different from physical addresses of the plurality of memory blocks.

A sequence of the physical addresses stored in the N regions of the respective reused memory block information may correspond to an arrangement sequence of the non-conflicting N normal word line groups included in the corresponding memory-block-word-line group.

The controller may sort the arrangement sequence of the physical addresses included in each of the reused memory block information stored in the reused block table such that the N normal word line groups included in the corresponding memory-block-word-line group do not conflict with each other.

The controller may further manage the plurality of memory blocks as a plurality of super memory blocks each including two or more among the plurality of memory blocks, and the controller may further generate a reused super memory block by grouping normal memory blocks of two or more bad super memory blocks including one or more bad memory blocks among the plurality of super memory blocks.

The controller may generate the reused super memory block further by replacing a bad memory block included in the two or more bad super memory blocks with the reused memory block.

The memory device may further include: a plurality of planes corresponding to a plurality of ways which share one channel to input/output data in an interleaving manner, respectively, and each comprising the memory blocks; and a plurality of memory dies corresponding to a plurality of channels for inputting/outputting data in an interleaving manner, respectively, and each comprising the planes.

The controller may include, in the plurality of super memory blocks each: grouping one arbitrary memory block included in a first plane and one arbitrary memory block included in a second plane in any one memory die of the memory dies, or grouping one arbitrary memory block included in a first plane of a first memory die, one arbitrary memory block included in a second plane of the first memory die, one arbitrary memory block included in a first plane of a second memory die, and one arbitrary memory block included in a second plane of the second memory die, among the memory dies.

The controller may include, in the plurality of super memory blocks each: grouping one arbitrary memory block included in a first plane of a first memory die and one arbitrary memory block included in a first plane of a second memory die, among the memory dies; and grouping one arbitrary memory block included in a second plane of the first memory die and one arbitrary memory block included in a second plane of the second memory die.

In an embodiment, an operation method of a memory system which includes a memory device having a plurality of memory blocks each including N word line groups, the operation method may include: selecting bad memory blocks among the plurality of memory blocks, arranging normal word line groups of the selected bad memory blocks into one or more memory-block-word-line groups each including non-conflicting N normal word line groups, and managing each of the memory-block-word-line groups as a reused memory block.

The operation method may further include generating a reused block table which stores one or more reused memory block information respectively corresponding to the memory-block-word-line groups, and each of the reused memory block information may have been N regions respectively representing the non-conflicting N normal word line groups included in the corresponding memory-block-word-line group through physical addresses of selected bad memory blocks of the corresponding memory-block-word-line groups.

The operation method may further include allocating physical addresses to the respective reused memory block information, and the physical addresses of the respective reused memory block information are different from physical addresses of the plurality of memory blocks.

A sequence of the physical addresses stored in the N regions of the respective reused memory block information may correspond to an arrangement sequence of the non-conflicting N normal word line groups included in the corresponding memory-block-word-line group.

The grouping of the normal word line groups may include sorting the arrangement sequence of the physical addresses included in each of the reused memory block information stored in the reused block table such that the N normal word line groups included in the corresponding memory-block-word-line group do not conflict with each other.

The operation method may further include: managing the plurality of memory blocks as a plurality of super memory blocks each including two or more among the plurality of memory blocks, and generating a reused super memory block by grouping normal memory blocks of two or more bad super memory blocks including one or more bad memory blocks among the plurality of super memory blocks.

The generating of the reused super memory block may further include replacing a bad memory block included in the two or more bad super memory blocks with the reused memory block.

The memory device may further include: a plurality of planes corresponding to a plurality of ways which share one channel to input/output data in an interleaving manner, respectively, and each including the memory blocks; and a plurality of memory dies corresponding to a plurality of channels for inputting/outputting data in an interleaving manner, respectively, and each including the planes.

The plurality of super memory blocks each may include: grouping one arbitrary memory block included in a first plane and one arbitrary memory block included in a second plane in any one memory die of the memory dies, or grouping one arbitrary memory block included in a first plane of a first memory die, one arbitrary memory block included in a second plane of the first memory die, one arbitrary memory block included in a first plane of a second memory die, and one arbitrary memory block included in a second plane of the second memory die, among the memory dies.

The plurality of super memory blocks each may include: grouping one arbitrary memory block included in a first plane of a first memory die and one arbitrary memory block included in a first plane of a second memory die, among the memory dies; and grouping one arbitrary memory block included in a second plane of the first memory die and one arbitrary memory block included in a second plane of the second memory die.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains from the following detailed description in reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a data processing system including a memory system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of a memory device employed in the memory system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of a memory cell array of a memory block in the memory device of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary three-dimensional structure of the memory device of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a super memory block used in a memory system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an operation of managing memory blocks in units of super memory blocks in the memory system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a method for reusing a bad super memory block in a memory system in accordance with the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a method for generating a reused normal memory block and a reused super memory block in accordance with the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a method for generating a reused normal memory block and for managing a physical address of the reused normal memory block.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a method for managing a physical address of a reused normal memory block for a reused super memory block.

FIGS. 11 to 19 are diagrams schematically illustrating application examples of the data processing system of FIG. 1 in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments of the present invention are described below in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. We note, however, that the present invention may be embodied in different other embodiments, forms and variations thereof and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, the described embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the present invention to those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains. Throughout the disclosure, like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the various figures and embodiments of the present invention.

It will be understood that, although the terms “first”, “second”, “third”, and so on may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements are not limited by these terms. These terms are used to distinguish one element from another element. Thus, a first element described below could also be termed as a second or third element without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

The drawings are not necessarily to scale and, in some instances, proportions may have been exaggerated in order to clearly illustrate various features of the embodiments.

It will be further understood that when an element is referred to as being “connected to”, or “coupled to” another element, it may be directly on, connected to, or coupled to the other element, or one or more intervening elements may be present. In addition, it will also be understood that when an element is referred to as being “between” two elements, it may be the only element between the two elements, or one or more intervening elements may also be present.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention. As used herein, singular forms are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” and “including” when used in this specification, specify the presence of the stated elements and do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other elements. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms including technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs in view of the present disclosure. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the present disclosure and the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. The present invention may be practiced without some or all of these specific details. In other instances, well-known process structures and/or processes have not been described in detail in order not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention.

It is also noted, that in some instances, as would be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art, a feature or element described in connection with one embodiment may be used singly or in combination with other features or elements of another embodiment, unless otherwise specifically indicated.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a data processing system 100 including a memory system 110 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the data processing system 100 may include a host 102 operatively coupled to the memory system 110.

The host 102 may include portable electronic devices such as a mobile phone, MP3 player and laptop computer or non-portable electronic devices such as a desktop computer, game machine, TV and projector.

The host 102 may include at least one OS (operating system), and the OS may manage and control overall functions and operations of the host 102, and provide an operation between the host 102 and a user using the data processing system 100 or the memory system 110. The OS may support functions and operations corresponding to the use purpose and usage of a user. For example, the OS may be divided into a general OS and a mobile OS, depending on the mobility of the host 102. The general OS may be divided into a personal OS and an enterprise OS, depending on the environment of a user. For example, the personal OS configured to support a function of providing a service to general users may include Windows and Chrome, and the enterprise OS configured to secure and support high performance may include Windows server, Linux and Unix. Furthermore, the mobile OS configured to support a function of providing a mobile service to users and a power saving function of a system may include Android, iOS and Windows Mobile. At this time, the host 102 may include a plurality of OSs, and execute an OS to perform an operation corresponding to a user's request on the memory system 110.

The memory system 110 may operate to store data for the host 102 in response to a request of the host 102. Non-limited examples of the memory system 110 may include a solid state drive (SSD), a multi-media card (MMC), a secure digital (SD) card, a universal storage bus (USB) device, a universal flash storage (UFS) device, compact flash (CF) card, a smart media card (SMC), a personal computer memory card international association (PCMCIA) card and memory stick. The MMC may include an embedded MMC (eMMC), reduced size MMC (RS-MMC) and micro-MMC. The SD card may include a mini-SD card and micro-SD card.

The memory system 110 may be embodied by various types of storage devices. Non-limited examples of storage devices included in the memory system 110 may include volatile memory devices such as a DRAM dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and a static RAM (SRAM) and nonvolatile memory devices such as a read only memory (ROM), a mask ROM (MROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a ferroelectric RAM (FRAM), a phase-change RAM (PRAM), a magneto-resistive RAM (MRAM), resistive RAM (RRAM) and a flash memory. The flash memory may have a 3-dimensional (3D) stack structure.

The memory system 110 may include a memory device 150 and a controller 130. The memory device 150 may store data for the host 120, and the controller 130 may control data storage into the memory device 150.

The controller 130 and the memory device 150 may be integrated into a single semiconductor device, which may be included in the various types of memory systems as exemplified above. For example, the controller 130 and the memory device 150 may be integrated as one semiconductor device to constitute an SSD. When the memory system 110 is used as an SSD, the operating speed of the host 102 connected to the memory system 110 can be improved. In addition, the controller 130 and the memory device 150 may be integrated as one semiconductor device to constitute a memory card. For example, the controller 130 and the memory device 150 may constitute a memory card such as a PCMCIA (personal computer memory card international association) card, CF card, SMC (smart media card), memory stick, MMC including RS-MMC and micro-MMC, SD card including mini-SD, micro-SD and SDHC, or UFS device.

Non-limited application examples of the memory system 110 may include a computer, an Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC), a workstation, a net-book, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a portable computer, a web tablet, a tablet computer, a wireless phone, a mobile phone, a smart phone, an e-book, a Portable Multimedia Player (PMP), a portable game machine, a navigation system, a black box, a digital camera, a Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) player, a 3-dimensional television, a smart television, a digital audio recorder, a digital audio player, a digital picture recorder, a digital picture player, a digital video recorder, a digital video player, a storage device constituting a data center, a device capable of transmitting/receiving information in a wireless environment, one of various electronic devices constituting a home network, one of various electronic devices constituting a computer network, one of various electronic devices constituting a telematics network, a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) device, or one of various components constituting a computing system.

The memory device 150 may be a nonvolatile memory device and may retain data stored therein even though power is not supplied. The memory device 150 may store data provided from the host 102 through a write operation, and provide data stored therein to the host 102 through a read operation. The memory device 150 may include a plurality of memory dies (not shown), each memory die including a plurality of planes (not shown), each plane including a plurality of memory blocks 152 to 156, each of the memory blocks 152 to 156 may include a plurality of pages, and each of the pages may include a plurality of memory cells coupled to a word line. In an embodiment, the memory device 150 may be a flash memory, and particularly, a flash memory having a 3-dimensional (3D) stack structure.

The controller 130 may control the memory device 150 in response to a request from the host 102. For example, the controller 130 may provide data read from the memory device 150 to the host 102, and store data provided from the host 102 into the memory device 150. For this operation, the controller 130 may control read, write, program and erase operations of the memory device 150.

The controller 130 may include a host interface (I/F) unit 132, a processor 134, an error correction code (ECC) unit 138, a Power Management Unit (PMU) 140, a memory device controller (MDC) 142 and a memory 144 all operatively coupled via an internal bus.

The host interface unit 132 may be configured to process a command and data of the host 102, and may communicate with the host 102 through one or more of various interface protocols such as universal serial bus (USB), multi-media card (MMC), peripheral component interconnect-express (PCI-E), small computer system interface (SCSI), serial-attached SCSI (SAS), serial advanced technology attachment (SATA), parallel advanced technology attachment (PATA), enhanced small disk interface (ESDI) and integrated drive electronics (IDE).

The ECC unit 138 may detect and correct an error contained in the data read from the memory device 150. In other words, the ECC unit 138 may perform an error correction decoding process to the data read from the memory device 150 through an ECC code used during an ECC encoding process. According to a result of the error correction decoding process, the ECC unit 138 may output a signal, for example, an error correction success/fail signal. When the number of error bits is more than a threshold value of correctable error bits, the ECC unit 138 may not correct the error bits, and may output an error correction fail signal.

The ECC unit 138 may perform error correction through a coded modulation such as Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) code, Bose-Chaudhri-Hocquenghem (BCH) code, turbo code, Reed-Solomon code, convolution code, Recursive Systematic Code (RSC), Trellis-Coded Modulation (TCM) and Block coded modulation (BCM). However, the ECC unit 138 is not limited thereto. The ECC unit 138 may include all circuits, modules, systems or devices for error correction.

The PMU 140 may provide and manage power of the controller 130.

The MDC 142 may serve as a memory/storage interface for interfacing the controller 130 and the memory device 150 such that the controller 130 controls the memory device 150 in response to a request from the host 102. When the memory device 150 is a flash memory or specifically a NAND flash memory, the MDC 142 may be a NAND flash controller and may generate a control signal for the memory device 150 and process data to be provided to the memory device 150 under the control of the processor 134. The MDC 142 may work as an interface (e.g., a NAND flash interface) for processing a command and data between the controller 130 and the memory device 150. Specifically, the MDC 142 may support data transfer between the controller 130 and the memory device 150.

The memory 144 may serve as a working memory of the memory system 110 and the controller 130, and store data for driving the memory system 110 and the controller 130. The controller 130 may control the memory device 150 to perform read, write, program and erase operations in response to a request from the host 102. The controller 130 may provide data read from the memory device 150 to the host 102, may store data provided from the host 102 into the memory device 150. The memory 144 may store data required for the controller 130 and the memory device 150 to perform these operations.

The memory 144 may be embodied by a volatile memory. For example, the memory 144 may be embodied by static random access memory (SRAM) or dynamic random access memory (DRAM). The memory 144 may be disposed within or out of the controller 130. FIG. 1 exemplifies the memory 144 disposed within the controller 130. In an embodiment, the memory 144 may be embodied by an external volatile memory having a memory interface transferring data between the memory 144 and the controller 130.

The processor 134 may control the overall operations of the memory system 110. The processor 134 may drive firmware to control the overall operations of the memory system 110. The firmware may be referred to as flash translation layer (FTL).

The processor 134 of the controller 130 may include a management unit (not illustrated) for performing a bad management operation of the memory device 150. The management unit may perform a bad block management operation of checking a bad block, in which a program fail occurs due to the characteristic of a NAND flash memory during a program operation, among the plurality of memory blocks 152 to 156 included in the memory device 150. The management unit may write the program-failed data of the bad block to a new memory block. In the memory device 150 having a 3D stack structure, the bad block management operation may reduce the use efficiency of the memory device 150 and the reliability of the memory system 110. Thus, the bad block management operation needs to be performed with more reliability.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the memory device 150.

Referring to FIG. 2, the memory device 150 may include a plurality of memory blocks 0 to N−1, and each of the blocks 0 to N−1 may include a plurality of pages, for example, 2^(M) pages, the number of which may vary according to circuit design. Memory cells included in the respective memory blocks 0 to N−1 may be one or more of a single level cell (SLC) storing 1-bit data, a multi-level cell (MLC) storing 2-bit data, a triple level MLC storing 3-bit data referred to also as a TLC, a quadruple level MLC storing 4-bit data referred to also as a QLC, or an MLC storing 5 or more bit data.

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of a memory cell array of a memory block in the memory device 150.

Referring to FIG. 3, a memory block 330 which may correspond to any of the plurality of memory blocks 152 to 156 included in the memory device 150 of the memory system 110 may include a plurality of cell strings 340 coupled to a plurality of corresponding bit lines BL0 to BLm−1. The cell string 340 of each column may include one or more drain select transistors DST and one or more source select transistors SST. Between the drain and select transistors DST and SST, a plurality of memory cells MC0 to MCn−1 may be coupled in series. In an embodiment, each of the memory cell transistors MC0 to MCn−1 may be embodied by an MLC capable of storing data information of a plurality of bits. Each of the cell strings 340 may be electrically coupled to a corresponding bit line among the plurality of bit lines BL0 to BLm−1. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the first cell string is coupled to the first bit line BL0, and the last cell string is coupled to the last bit line BLm−1.

Although FIG. 3 illustrates NAND flash memory cells, the invention is not limited in this way. It is noted that the memory cells may be NOR flash memory cells, or hybrid flash memory cells including two or more kinds of memory cells combined therein. Also, it is noted that the memory device 150 may be a flash memory device including a conductive floating gate as a charge storage layer or a charge trap flash (CTF) memory device including an insulation layer as a charge storage layer.

The memory device 150 may further include a voltage supply unit 310 which provides word line voltages including a program voltage, a read voltage and a pass voltage to supply to the word lines according to an operation mode. The voltage generation operation of the voltage supply unit 310 may be controlled by a control circuit (not illustrated). Under the control of the control circuit, the voltage supply unit 310 may select one of the memory blocks (or sectors) of the memory cell array, select one of the word lines of the selected memory block, and provide the word line voltages to the selected word line and the unselected word lines as may be needed.

The memory device 150 may include a read/write circuit 320 which is controlled by the control circuit. During a verification/normal read operation, the read/write circuit 320 may operate as a sense amplifier for reading data from the memory cell array. During a program operation, the read/write circuit 320 may operate as a write driver for driving bit lines according to data to be stored in the memory cell array. During a program operation, the read/write circuit 320 may receive from a buffer (not illustrated) data to be stored into the memory cell array, and drive bit lines according to the received data. The read/write circuit 320 may include a plurality of page buffers 322 to 326 respectively corresponding to columns (or bit lines) or column pairs (or bit line pairs), and each of the page buffers 322 to 326 may include a plurality of latches (not illustrated).

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary 3D structure of the memory device 150.

The memory device 150 may be embodied by a 2D or 3D memory device. Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the memory device 150 may be embodied by a nonvolatile memory device having a 3D stack structure. When the memory device 150 has a 3D structure, the memory device 150 may include a plurality of memory blocks BLK0 to BLKN−1 each having a 3D structure (or vertical structure).

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a super memory block used in a memory system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the memory device 150 includes a plurality of memory blocks BLOCK000 to BLOCK11N

The memory device 150 includes a zeroth memory die DIE0 capable of inputting/outputting data through a zeroth channel CH0 and a first memory die DIE1 capable of inputting/outputting data through a first channel CH1. The zeroth channel CH0 and the first channel CH1 may input/output data in an interleaving scheme.

The zeroth memory die DIE0 includes a plurality of planes PLANE00 and PLANE01 respectively corresponding to a plurality of ways WAY0 and WAY1 capable of inputting/outputting data in the interleaving scheme by sharing the zeroth channel CH0.

The first memory die DIE1 includes a plurality of planes PLANE10 and PLANE11 respectively corresponding to a plurality of ways WAY2 and WAY3 capable of inputting/outputting data in the interleaving scheme by sharing the first channel CH1.

The first plane PLANE00 of the zeroth memory die DIE0 includes a predetermined number of memory blocks BLOCK000 to BLOCK00N among the plurality of memory blocks BLOCK000 to BLOCK11N.

The second plane PLANE01 of the zeroth memory die DIE0 includes the predetermined number of memory blocks BLOCK010 to BLOCK01N among the plurality of memory blocks BLOCK000 to BLOCK11N.

The first plane PLANE10 of the first memory die DIE1 includes the predetermined number of memory blocks BLOCK100 to BLOCK10N among the plurality of memory blocks BLOCK000 to BLOCK11N.

The second plane PLANE11 of the first memory die DIE1 includes the predetermined number of memory blocks BLOCK110 to BLOCK11N among the plurality of memory blocks BLOCK000 to BLOCK11N.

In this manner, the plurality of memory blocks BLOCK000 to BLOCK11N included in the memory device 150 may be divided into groups, according to their physical locations and their use of the ways and channels.

FIG. 5 illustrates, as an example, two memory dies DIE0 and DIE1 included in the memory device 150, two planes included in each of the dies DIE0 and DIE1 and the same predetermined number of memory blocks included in each of planes. It is noted, that according to a designer's choice, the number of memory dies included in the memory device 150 may be greater or smaller than two. Also, the number of planes included in each memory die may be larger or smaller than two. Also, the number of memory blocks included in each plane may be adjusted variously according to a designer's choice.

A different scheme of dividing the plurality of memory blocks BLOCK000 to BLOCK11N included in the memory device 150 includes the controller 130 dividing a plurality of memory blocks according to simultaneous selection and operation of memory blocks. That is to say, the controller 130 may manage a plurality of memory blocks which are located in different dies or different planes based on their physical positions, by grouping memory blocks capable of being selected simultaneously among the plurality of memory blocks and thereby dividing the plurality of memory blocks into super memory blocks.

The simultaneous selection scheme of grouping the memory blocks into super memory blocks by the controller 130 may be performed in various manners. For example, three exemplary simultaneous selection schemes are described herein.

A first scheme is to manage one super memory block A1 by grouping, by the controller 130, one memory block BLOCK000 in the first plane PLANE00 and one memory block BLOCK010 in the second plane PLANE01 of the zeroth memory die DIE0 between the plurality of memory dies DIE0 and DIE1 included in the memory device 150. When applying the first scheme to the first memory die DIE1 between the plurality of memory dies DIE0 and DIE1 included in the memory device 150, the controller 130 may manage one super memory block A2 by grouping one memory block BLOCK100 in the first plane PLANE10 and one memory block BLOCK110 in the second plane PLANE11 of the first memory die DIE1.

A second scheme is to manage one super memory block B1 by grouping, by the controller 130, one memory block BLOCK002 included in the first plane PLANE00 of the zeroth memory die DIE0 between the plurality of memory dies DIE0 and DIE1 included in the memory device 150 and one memory block BLOCK102 included in the first plane PLANE10 of the first memory die DIE1. When applying the second scheme again, the controller 130 may manage one super memory block B2 by grouping one memory block BLOCK012 included in the second plane PLANE01 of the zeroth memory die DIE0 between the plurality of memory dies DIE0 and DIE1 included in the memory device 150 and one memory block BLOCK112 included in the second plane PLANE11 of the first memory die DIE1.

A third scheme is to manage one super memory block C by grouping, by the controller 130, one memory block BLOCK001 included in the first plane PLANE00 of the zeroth memory die DIE0 between the plurality of memory dies DIE0 and DIE1 included in the memory device 150, one memory block BLOCK011 included in the second plane PLANE01 of the zeroth memory die DIE0, one memory block BLOCK101 included in the first plane PLANE10 of the first memory die DIE1 and one memory block BLOCK111 included in the second plane PLANE11 of the first memory die DIE1.

Generally, we note that the controller 130 may manage a plurality of memory blocks by grouping the memory blocks into several super memory blocks. The memory blocks included in each super memory block may be selected substantially simultaneously by the controller through an interleaving scheme, for example, a channel interleaving scheme, a memory die interleaving scheme, a memory chip interleaving scheme or a way interleaving scheme.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an operation of managing memory blocks in units of super memory blocks in the memory system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, a scheme of selecting a plurality of super memory blocks may be seen.

First, it is exemplified that the memory device 150 includes eight memory dies DIE<0:7>, each of the eight memory dies DIE<0:7> includes four planes PLANE<0:3> to allow the eight memory dies DIE<0:7> to include total 32 planes PLANE<0:3>*8, and each of the 32 planes PLANE<0:3>*8 includes 1,024 memory blocks BLOCK<0:1023>. In other words, it is exemplified that the memory device 150 includes a total of 32,768 memory blocks BLOCK<0:1023>*32.

Also, it is exemplified that, in the memory device 150, the total 32 planes PLANE<0:3>*8 included in the eight memory dies DIE<0:7> input/output data through two channels CH<0:1> and eight ways WAY<0:7>. Namely, it is exemplified that, in the memory device 150, that the four planes PLANE<0:3> of each of the respective 8 dies DIE<0:7> share one of the 8 ways WAY<0:7>. Also, a first half of the 8 ways WAY<0:7> (e.g., first four ways WAY<0:3>) share a first channel CH0 and a second half of the 8 ways WAY<0:7> (e.g., last four ways WAY<4:7>) share a second channel CH1.

The controller 130 of the memory system 110 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention uses a scheme of managing the plurality of memory blocks included in the memory device 150, by dividing them in units of super memory blocks.

As exemplified in FIG. 6, the controller 130 may manage 1024 super memory blocks SUPER BLOCK<0:1023>, each of the super memory blocks SUPER BLOCK<0:1023> being formed by selecting one arbitrary memory block from each of the 32 planes PLANE<0:3>*8 included in the memory device 150 simultaneously. Therefore, 32 memory blocks are included in each of the super memory blocks SUPER BLOCK<0:1023>.

Since the controller 130 selects simultaneously the 32 memory blocks included in each of the super memory blocks SUPER BLOCK<0:1023>, in a configuration in which management is performed in units of super memory blocks as in FIG. 6, only super memory block addresses are used for selecting the respective super memory blocks SUPER BLOCK<0:1023>.

In other words, in a configuration in which management is performed in units of super memory blocks, instead of using memory block addresses (not shown) for selecting the respective 32,768 memory blocks BLOCK<0:1023>*32 included in the memory device 150, only super memory block addresses (not shown) are used for selecting the respective 1,024 super memory blocks SUPER BLOCK<0:1023>.

In this manner, in order to use only the super memory block addresses, the controller 130 uses a scheme of managing super memory blocks by grouping memory blocks of the same locations in the respective 32 planes PLANE<0:3>*8 included in the memory device 150.

For example, the controller 130 manages a zeroth super memory block SUPER BLOCK0 by grouping all 32 zeroth memory blocks BLOCK0 in the respective 32 planes PLANE<0:3>*8 included in the memory device 150, manages a first super memory block SUPER BLOCK1 by grouping all 32 first memory blocks BLOCK1 in the respective 32 planes PLANE<0:3>*8, and manages a second super memory block SUPER BLOCK2 by grouping all 32 second memory blocks BLOCK2 in the respective 32 planes PLANE<0:3>*8. In this manner, the controller 130 manages the 32,768 memory blocks BLOCK<0:1023>*32 included in the memory device 150, by dividing them into the total 1,024 super memory blocks SUPER BLOCK<0:1023>.

However, it is substantially impossible for all the memory blocks included in the memory device 150, to operate normally. Typically, some bad memory blocks which do not operate normally may exist among the plurality of memory blocks included in the memory device 150. For example, in the embodiment of FIG. 6, where it is illustrated that 32,768 memory blocks BLOCK<0:1023>*32 are included in the memory device 150, about 650 memory blocks corresponding to approximately 2% of the total number of memory blocks in the memory device may be bad memory blocks.

In this regard, as described above, in the case where the controller 130 uses the scheme of managing super memory blocks by grouping memory blocks of the same locations in the respective 32 planes PLANE<0:3>*8 included in the memory device 150 for using only super memory block addresses, a bad super memory block, in which a bad memory block is included among the super memory blocks SUPER BLOCK<0:1023>, may not operate normally. That is to say, if even one memory block among the 32 memory blocks included in each of the super memory blocks SUPER BLOCK<0:1023> is determined as a bad memory block, a corresponding bad super memory block may not operate normally.

In this manner, even though only one memory block is a bad memory block and all the remaining 31 memory blocks are normal among the 32 memory blocks included in any one super memory block, the corresponding bad super memory block is not used, which is markedly inefficient.

In consideration of this fact, in the memory system 110 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a bad super memory block where at least one bad memory block is included is reused by employing a reused super block table.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a method for reusing a bad super memory block in a memory system in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 7 exemplifies that some memory blocks of 32 memory blocks determined as bad memory blocks in each of a 718th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 718, a 820th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 820 and a 829th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 829 among a plurality of super memory blocks SUPER BLOCK<0:1203> included in the memory device 150 illustrated in FIG. 6.

As exemplified in FIG. 7, among the 32 memory blocks included in the 718th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 718, a total of three memory blocks included in a first plane PLANE1 of a zeroth memory die DIE0, a first plane PLANE1 of a first memory die DIE1 and a first plane PLANE1 of a third memory die DIE3 are determined as bad memory blocks.

Also as exemplified in FIG. 7, among the 32 memory blocks included in the 820th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 820 among the plurality of super memory blocks SUPER BLOCK<0:1203>, a total of three memory blocks included in a zeroth plane PLANE0 of the zeroth memory die DIE0, a zeroth plane PLANE0 of the first memory die DIE1 and a zeroth plane PLANE0 of the third memory die DIE3 are determined as bad memory blocks.

Also as exemplified in FIG. 7, among the 32 memory blocks included in the 829th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 829 among the plurality of super memory blocks SUPER BLOCK<0:1203>, one memory block included in the first plane PLANE1 of the zeroth memory die DIE0 is determined as a bad memory block.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, in the above-described situation, the controller 130 may generate a reused super block table 700 for reusing bad super memory blocks as normal super memory blocks by replacing bad memory blocks, which are included in the bad super memory blocks, with normal memory blocks, which are also included in the bad super memory blocks.

For example, in order to reuse the bad 718th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 718, the controller 130 may search for another bad super memory block which has normal memory blocks for replacing the bad memory blocks of the bad 718th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 718.

As a result of searching another bad super memory block, the controller 130 may detect the bad 820th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 820 including three bad memory blocks. The controller 130 may check whether the bad memory blocks included in both of the 718th and 820th super memory blocks SUPER BLOCK 718 and SUPER BLOCK 820 are located at the same positions, respectively.

If at least one of the bad memory blocks are located at the same positions, the controller 130 may search for another bad super memory block. When all of the bad memory blocks are not located at the same positions, as is the case for the bad 718th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 718 and the bad 820th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 820, the controller 130 may set the bad 820th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 820 as a victim super memory block for the target super memory block (i.e., the bad 718th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 718) for generating a reused bad super memory block. As exemplified in FIG. 7, the bad memory blocks (in plane PLANE1 of die DIE0, plane PLANE1 of die DIE1, and plane PLANE1 of die DIE3) of the bad 718th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 718 have different locations than the bad memory blocks (in plane PLANE0 of die DIE0, plane PLANE0 of die DIE1, and plane PLANE0 of die DIE3) of the bad 820th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 820. Therefore, the controller 130 may set the bad 820th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 820 as a victim super memory block for a target super memory block (i.e., the bad 718th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 718) for generating a reused bad super memory block.

More specifically, the controller 130 may generate a reused super block table 700 such that the bad memory blocks included in the target super memory block (e.g., the bad 718th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 718) are replaced with normal memory blocks included in the victim super memory block (e.g., the bad 820th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 820). The normal memory blocks of the victim super memory block (e.g., the bad 820th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 820) may have the same locations as the bad memory blocks of the target super memory block (e.g., the bad 718th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 718), respectively.

For example, the controller 130 may generate in a first row of the reused super block table 700 a zeroth reused super memory block RE SUPER BLOCK 0 to replace the bad 718th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 718, and store block address values of 32 memory blocks of the zeroth reused super memory block RE SUPER BLOCK 0 replacing the bad 718th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 718.

Referring to FIG. 7, in the reused super block table 700, the block address values of 32 memory blocks of the zeroth reused super memory block RE SUPER BLOCK 0 may include the block address values of the normal memory blocks included in the bad 718th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 718 (i.e., the target super memory block) and the block address values of the normal memory blocks of the bad 820th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 820 (i.e., the victim super memory block) replacing the bad memory blocks of the target super memory block. Therefore, among the values of the zeroth regenerated super memory block RE SUPER BLOCK 0, stored in the first row of the regenerated super block table 700, only block addresses indicating a total of three memory blocks included in the first plane PLANE1 of the zeroth memory die DIE0, the first plane PLANE1 of the first memory die DIE1 and the first plane PLANE1 of the third memory die DIE3 among the 32 memory blocks are block addresses of the 820th super memory block, and the other 29 block addresses are all block addresses of the 718th super memory block.

Since the regenerated super block table 700 was generated in this way, the controller 130 may refer to the values of the zeroth regenerated super memory block RE SUPER BLOCK 0, stored in the first row of the regenerated super block table 700, when accessing the 718th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 718.

Then, in order to reuse the bad 820th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 820, the controller 130 may search for memory blocks which can replace the zeroth and first planes PLANE0 and PLANE1 of the zeroth memory die DIE0, the zeroth and first planes PLANE0 and PLANE1 of the first memory die DIE1, and the zeroth and first planes PLANE0 and PLANE1 of the third memory die DIE3, among the 32 memory blocks included in the 820th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 820. At this time, the reason why the controller 130 searches for memory blocks which can replace six memory blocks among the 32 memory blocks included the 820th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 820 even though the 32 memory blocks included in the 820th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 820 include three bad memory blocks is that three memory blocks of the 820th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 820 were used to normally operate the 718th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 718 as the regenerated super memory block. In other words, that is because, since a total of three bad memory blocks are included in the first plane PLANE1 of the zeroth memory die DIE0, the first plane PLANE1 of the first memory die DIE1, and the first plane PLANE1 of the third memory die DIE3 among the 32 memory blocks included in the 718th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 718, the controller 130 generated the regenerated super block table 700 to use a total of three memory blocks included in the first plane PLANE1 of the zeroth memory die DIE0, the first plane PLANE1 of the first memory die DIE1, and the first plane PLANE1 of the third memory die DIE3 among the 32 memory blocks included in the 820th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 820.

Thus, the controller 130 may search for a super memory block including one or more bad memory blocks among the super memory blocks SUPER BLOCK<0:1203>, in order to reuse the 820th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 820 among the super memory blocks SUPER BLOCK<0:1203>. At this time, the controller 130 may exclude super memory blocks from the search target, the super memory blocks including only normal memory blocks among the super memory blocks SUPER BLOCK<0:1203>. In sum, as described above in the example of FIG. 7, some normal memory blocks of the bad 820th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 820 are taken for the reused super memory block RE SUPER BLOCK0, and thus the bad 820th super memory block SUPER BLOCK820 requires normal memory blocks for the taken memory blocks as well as the bad memory blocks included therein.

Hence, generally, the controller 130 may search for another bad super memory block to use it as a current victim super memory block which has normal memory blocks having the same locations as the bad memory blocks of previous and current target super memory blocks (e.g., the 718th and 820th super memory blocks SUPER BLOCK 718 and SUPER BLOCK 820). As a result of searching another bad super memory block, the controller 130 may not detect any bad super memory block which has normal memory blocks for replacing the bad memory blocks of the bad 820th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 820 as well as the normal memory blocks taken for the previous target super memory block (i.e., the bad 718th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 718) for the reused bad super memory block.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 7, due to the bad memory block of the first plane PLANE1 in the zeroth die DIE0, the bad 829th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 829 does not have normal memory blocks having the same locations as the bad memory blocks of previous and current target super memory blocks (i.e., the 718th and 820th super memory blocks SUPER BLOCK 718 and SUPER BLOCK 820).

When the position of the bad memory block included in the 829th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 829 overlaps the positions of the bad memory blocks, the controller 130 may exclude the 829th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 829 from the search target, and search for another super memory block again. On the other hand, when the position of the bad memory block included in the 829th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 829 does not overlap the positions of the bad memory blocks, the controller 130 may set the 829th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 829 to the search target super memory block.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, the bad memory block of the 829th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 829 is located in the first plane PLANE1 of the zeroth memory die DIE0, and the bad memory blocks included in the 718th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 718 and the 820th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 820 are located in the zeroth and first planes PLANE0 and PLANE1 of the zeroth memory die DIE0, the zeroth and first planes PLANE0 and PLANE1 of the first memory die DIE1 and the zeroth and first planes PLANE0 and PLANE1 of the third memory die DIE3. That is, since the bad memory block included in the 829th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 829 is located at the same position as a bad memory block included in the 718th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 718 and a bad memory block included in the 820th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 820, the controller 130 needs to exclude the 829th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 829 from the search target, and search for another super memory block again.

However, no more super memory blocks including bad memory blocks are present in the plurality of super memory blocks SUPER BLOCK<0:1203> included in the memory device 150.

When no victim super memory block is detected among the rest of the bad super memory blocks, the controller 130 may select the current target super memory block (i.e., the bad 820th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 820) and the bad 829th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 829. Although not illustrated, there may several bad super memory blocks which do not have normal memory blocks for replacing the bad memory blocks of the current target super memory block (e.g., the bad 820th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 820) as well as the normal memory blocks taken for the previous target super memory block (e.g., the bad 718th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 718) for the reused bad super memory block. Among them, the controller 130 may arbitrarily select the bad 829th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 829.

Although combining the current target super memory block (i.e., the bad 820th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 820) and the bad 829th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 829, a normal memory block is still required for replacing the bad memory block of the first plane PLANE1 in the zeroth die DIE0 in the selected bad 829th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 829 in order to generate the first reused super memory block RE SUPER BLOCK 1.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the controller 130 may generate the first reused super memory block RE SUPER BLOCK 1 by generating reused normal memory blocks and by replacing bad memory blocks (e.g., the bad memory block of the first plane PLANE1 in the zeroth die DIE0) of the bad 829th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 829 with the generated reused memory blocks.

In the present embodiment, a bad memory block including a normal word line may be used for generating the reused normal memory blocks, with which the bad memory blocks are replaced for the generation of the reused super memory block, through a reused super block table 800 as illustrated in FIG. 8.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a method for generating a reused normal memory block and a reused super memory block in accordance with the embodiment.

FIG. 8 exemplifies a bad memory block included in the first plane PLANE1 of the zeroth memory die DIE0 of the 718th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 718 and a bad memory block included in the first plane PLANE1 of the zeroth memory die DIE0 of the 829th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 829, which are selected to generate the reused normal memory block for the generation of the first reused super memory block RE SUPER BLOCK 1. The selection of the bad memory blocks and the generation of the reused normal memory block may be described later in detail with reference to FIG. 9.

Specifically, when the memory block included the first plane PLANE1 of the zeroth memory die DIE0 of the 829th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 829 illustrated in FIG. 7 is determined to be a bad memory block, all word lines included in the memory block are not determined as bad word lines, but only a part of the word lines is determined as bad word lines, and the other part is normal word lines. Similarly, when the memory block included in the first plane PLANE1 of the zeroth memory die DIE0 of the 718th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 718 illustrated in FIG. 7 is determined as a bad memory block, all word lines included in the memory block are not determined as bad word lines, but only a part of the word lines is determined as bad word lines, and the other part is normal word lines.

FIG. 8 exemplifies the bad memory block included in the first plane PLANE1 of the zeroth memory die DIE0 of the 829th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 829, and having normal first to I-th word lines WL<1:I> and bad (I+1)th to 2I-th word lines WL<I+1:2I>. Furthermore, FIG. 8 exemplifies the bad memory block included in the first plane PLANE1 of the zeroth memory die DIE0 of the 718th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 718, and having bad first to I-th word lines WL<1:I> and normal (I+1)th to 2I-th word lines WL<I+1:2I>.

In order to replace the bad memory blocks (e.g., the bad memory block of the first plane PLANE 1 of the zeroth die DIE 0) of the selected bad 829th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 829 for the generation of the first reused super memory block RE SUPER BLOCK 1, the controller 130 may generate a reused normal memory block by grouping the normal word lines of the bad memory blocks (e.g., the normal first to I-th word lines WL<1:I> of the bad memory block included in the first plane PLANE1 of the zeroth memory die DIE0 of the 829th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 829, and the normal (I+1)th to 2I-th word lines WL<I+1:2I> of the bad memory block included in the first plane PLANE1 of the zeroth memory die DIE0 of the 718th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 718).

As the controller 130 replaces bad memory blocks (e.g., the bad memory block of the first plane PLANE1 in the zeroth die DIE0) of the bad 829th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 829 with the generated reused memory blocks, the controller 130 may generate in a second row of the reused super block table 700 the first reused super memory block RE SUPER BLOCK 1 to replace the bad 820th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 820, and store block address values of 32 memory blocks of the first reused super memory block RE SUPER BLOCK 1 replacing the bad 820th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 820.

That is, the value of the first reused super memory block RE SUPER BLOCK 1 stored in the second row of the reused super block table 700 illustrated in FIG. 8 may be set by replacing a total of five memory blocks included in the zeroth plane PLANE0 of the zeroth memory die DIE0, the zeroth and first planes PLALE0 and PLANE1 of the first memory die DIE1, and the zeroth and first planes PLANE0 and PLANE1 of the third memory die DIE3 with memory blocks of the super memory block SUPER BLOCK 829, and replacing the bad memory block included in the first plane PLANE1 of the zeroth memory die DIE0 of the bad 829th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 829 with the generated reused memory block NEW BLOCK.

Then, the controller 130 may refer to the value of the first reused super memory block RE SUPER BLOCK1 stored in the second row of the reused super block table 700, when accessing the 820th super memory block SUPER BLOCK 820.

Hereinafter, described with reference to FIG. 9 will be a method for generating the reused memory block NEW BLOCK.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a method for generating a reused normal memory block and for managing a physical address of the reused normal memory block.

FIG. 9 does not illustrate the super memory blocks exemplified in FIGS. 5 to 8, but illustrates a configuration in which the memory device 150 exemplified in FIG. 1 includes a plurality of memory blocks BLOCK<0:5>. This may indicate that the configuration for reusing bad memory blocks in FIG. 8 is not applied only to the memory device 150 which is managed on a basis of super memory blocks, but is also included in the memory device 150 including the plurality of memory blocks BLOCK<0:5>. That is, FIG. 9 illustrates an expanded configuration of the configuration for reusing the bad memory blocks in FIG. 8.

Specifically, each of the memory blocks BLOCK<0:5> included in the memory device 150 in accordance with the embodiment may include a plurality of word lines WL<1:2I>, and the word lines WL<1:2I> may be grouped into a plurality of word line groups BL<0:5>_GP<1:2>.

At this time, FIG. 9 illustrates that the memory device 150 includes six memory blocks BLOCK<0:5>. Depending on a designer's selection, however, a larger or smaller number of memory blocks may be included in the memory device. Furthermore, FIG. 9 illustrates that each of the memory blocks BLOCK<0:5> includes two word line groups BL<0:5>_GP<1:2>. Thus, in FIG. 9, N may be set to 2. Depending on a designer's selection, however, N may be set to another natural number larger than 2.

Although not illustrated in FIG. 9, the controller 130 may select bad memory blocks BLOCK<0:2, 4:5> including bad word lines among the memory blocks BLOCK<0:5> included in the memory device 150.

FIG. 9 illustrates that only five memory blocks BLOCK<0:2, 4:5> among the six memory blocks BLOCK<0:5> included in the memory device 150 include bad word lines, and that the memory block BLOCK<3> includes no bad word lines. Thus, the controller 130 may select the five memory blocks BLOCK<0:2, 4:5> which include bad word lines as the bad memory blocks. Thus, in FIG. 9, M may be set to 5. However, depending on the number of memory blocks including bad word lines, M may be larger or smaller than 5.

Among word line groups BL<0:2, 4:5>_GP<1:2> included in the bad memory blocks BLOCK<0:2, 4:5>, the controller 130 may generate the reused memory blocks by arranging normal word line groups BL0_GP2, BL1_GP2, BL2_GP1 and BL5_GP1 by N (i.e., by a number of word line groups to be included in a single memory block) such that each of the arranged N normal word line groups may not physically conflict with another and may operate as a single normal memory block. Further, the controller 130 may manage an L number of the arranged N normal word line groups as L reused memory blocks RE BLOCK<0:1>. FIG. 9 exemplifies 2 (L=2) reused memory blocks RE BLOCK<0:1> since the controller 130 may generate 2 (=L) number of arranged 2 (=N) normal word line groups (a first word group BL2_GP1 of the second memory block BLOCK2 and a second word group BL0_GP2 of the zeroth memory block BLOCK0 for a zeroth reused memory block RE BLOCK 0; and a first word group BL5_GP1 of the fifth memory block BLOCK5 and a second word line group BL1_GP2 of the first memory block BLOCK1 for a first reused memory block RE BLOCK 1), which will be described later.

Hence, for example, the controller 130 may group four normal word line groups BL0_GP2, BL1_GP2, BL2_GP1 and BL5_GP1 by two such that the groups correspond to a first condition, the four normal word line groups excluding six bad word line groups BL0_GP1, BL1_GP1, BL2_GP2, BL4_GP1, BL4_GP2 and BL5_GP2 including bad word lines among the 10 word line groups BL<0:2, 4:5>_GP<1:2> included in the five bad memory blocks BLOCK<0:2, 4:5> of the memory device 150, and manage the grouped word line groups as two regenerated memory blocks RE BLOCK<0:1> which can perform a normal operation. Thus, in FIG. 9, K may be set to 6, and L may be set to 2. However, under the supposition that one or more bad word line groups are included in each of the bad memory blocks BLOCK<0:2, 4:5>, K may have a value equal to or more than M. Furthermore, when the number of normal word line groups included in the bad memory blocks BLOCK<0:2, 4:5> is smaller than N or the normal word line groups cannot be grouped into groups corresponding to the first condition, the controller 130 does not generate a new memory block. Thus, L may have a value equal to or more than 1.

In FIG. 9, N may be set to 2, M may be set to 5, K may be set to 6, and L may be set to 2. Therefore, in the following descriptions, the numbers exemplified in FIG. 9, that is, 2, 5, 6 and 2 will be used in place of N, M, K and L. However, the above-described example is only an embodiment, and N, M, K and L may be set to different values depending on a designer's selection and the type or state of a memory device.

The word line groups are supposed to be disposed not to conflict with each other for a single memory block. For example, when assuming a number (i.e., N) of word line groups for each of the memory blocks is 2, upper and lower word line groups GP1 and GP2, which respectively include WL<1:I> and WL<I+1:2I>, may correspond to a single memory block. The physical arrangement order of the two word line groups included in each of the memory blocks BLOCK<0:5> may be preset in the corresponding memory block. That is, the first word line group BL<0:5>_GP<1> between the two word line groups BL<0:5>_GP<1:2> may correspond to the word lines from the first word line WL<1> to the Ith word line WL<I> among the 2I word lines WL<1:2I> included in each of the memory blocks BLOCK<0:5>, and the second word line group BL<0:5>_GP<2> may correspond to the word lines from the (I+1)th word line WL<I+1> to the (2I)th word line WL<2I> among the 2I word lines WL<1:2I> included in each of the memory blocks BLOCK<0:5>. That is, in each of the memory blocks BLOCK<0:5>, the first word line group BL<0:5>_GP<1> has an arrangement order which physically precedes the second word line group BL<0:5>_GP<2>. For example, in each of the memory blocks BLOCK<0:5>, the first word line group BL<0:5>_GP<1> may have a first arrangement order, and the second word line group BL<0:5>_GP<2> may have a second arrangement order.

In this state, the first condition may indicate that the four normal word line groups BL0_GP2, BL1_GP2, BL2_GP1 and BL5_GP1 which are grouped by two and included in the two regenerated memory blocks RE BLOCK<0:1> have physical arrangement orders which do not overlap each other and are successive. That is, the word line group having the first arrangement order and the word line group having the second arrangement order needs to be grouped into one regenerated memory block, such that the four normal word line groups BL0_GP2, BL1_GP2, BL2_GP1 and BL5_GP1 can correspond to the first condition.

Thus, as exemplified in FIG. 9, the upper word group BL2_GP1 of the second memory block BLOCK2 and the lower word group BL0_GP2 of the zeroth memory block BLOCK0 may be arranged for generating the zeroth reused memory block RE BLOCK 0. Similarly, the upper word group BL5_GP1 of the fifth memory block BLOCK5 and the lower word line group BL1_GP2 of the first memory block BLOCK1 may be arranged for generating the first reused memory block RE BLOCK 1.

At this time, the second word line group BL0_GP2 of the zeroth memory block BLOCK0 having the second arrangement order and the second word line group BL1_GP2 of the first memory block BLOCK1 having the second arrangement order cannot be grouped into a regenerated memory block, because the word line groups do not coincide with the first condition. Similarly, the first word line group BL2_GP1 of the second memory block BLOCK2 having the first arrangement order and the first word line group BL5_GP1 of the fifth memory block BLOCK5 having the first arrangement order cannot be grouped into a regenerated memory block, because the word line groups do not coincide with the first condition.

Each of the memory blocks BLOCK<0:5> included in the memory device 150 may have a physical address PA allocated thereto, the physical address PA indicating the corresponding memory block. That is, as illustrated in FIG. 9, a physical address PA having a value of ‘000’ may be applied to the zeroth memory block BLOCK0, a physical address PA having a value of ‘040’ may be applied to the first memory block BLOCK1, a physical address PA having a value of ‘080’ may be applied to the second memory block BLOCK2, a physical address PA having a value of ‘120’ may be applied to the third memory block BLOCK3, a physical address PA having a value of ‘160’ may be applied to the fourth memory block BLOCK4, and a physical address PA having a value of ‘200’ may be applied to the fifth memory block BLOCK5. For reference, the physical address PA applied to each of the memory blocks BLOCK<0:5> may be predetermined during a process of fabricating the memory device 150, and the physical addresses exemplified in FIG. 9 are only an example, and may be set to different values depending on the type or state of the memory device or a designer's design scheme.

In this state, the controller 130 may generate a reused block table 900. The reused block table 900 may have reused memory block information RE BLK TB<0:1> respectively for the reused memory blocks (e.g., the zeroth and first reused memory blocks RE BLOCK 0 and RE BLOCK 1). Each of the reused memory block information RE BLK TB<0:1> may include several regions each storing physical addresses PA of the bad memory blocks BLOCK<0:2, 4:5> including normal word line groups BL0_GP2, BL1_GP2, BL2_GP1 and BL5_GP1.

In each of the reused memory block information RE BLK TB<0:1>, the regions may represent the normal word line groups arranged for a single reused memory block. As described above, the arranged normal word line groups in the regions of the respective reused memory block information RE BLK TB<0:1> may not physically conflict with each other and may operate as a single normal memory block.

As exemplified in FIG. 9, two reused memory block information RE BLK TB<0:1> stored in the reused block table 900 may represent two reused memory blocks RE BLOCK<0:1>, respectively. That is, a zeroth reused memory block information RE BLK TB 0 stored in a first row of the reused block table 900 may represent the zeroth reused memory block RE BLOCK 0, and a first reused memory block information RE BLK TB 1 stored in a second row may represent the first reused memory block RE BLOCK 1.

Two regions of the zeroth reused memory block information RE BLK TB 0 may sequentially store physical addresses ‘080’ and ‘000’ representing the second memory block BLOCK2 and the zeroth memory block BLOCK0. Similarly, two regions of the first reused memory block information RE BLK TB 1 may sequentially store physical addresses ‘200’ and ‘040’ representing the fifth memory block BLOCK5 and the first memory block BLOCK1.

A sequence of values (i.e., the physical addresses) stored in the regions of a single reused memory block information RE BLK TB<0:1> may correspond to an arrangement sequence of the normal word line groups of the bad memory blocks represented by the values of the regions. For example, the controller 130 may sort the physical addresses grouped by two in each of the two tables RE BLK TB<0:1> stored in the regenerated block table 900, such that the physical addresses correspond to the first condition.

As exemplified in FIG. 9, the physical addresses ‘080’ and ‘000’ sequentially stored in the regions of the zeroth reused memory block information RE BLK TB 0 may represent the upper word group BL2_GP1 of the second memory block BLOCK2, which has the physical address of ‘080’, and the lower word group BL0_GP2 of the zeroth memory block BLOCK0, which has the physical address of ‘000’, arranged for the zeroth reused memory block RE BLOCK 0. Also, the physical addresses ‘200’ and ‘040’ sequentially stored in the regions of the first reused memory block information RE BLK TB 1 may represent the upper word group BL5_GP1 of the fifth memory block BLOCK5, which has the physical address of ‘200’, and the lower word line group BL1_GP2 of the first memory block BLOCK1 arranged for the first reused memory block RE BLOCK 1, which has the physical address of ‘040’, arranged for the first reused memory block RE BLOCK 1.

Similarly, when ‘200’ corresponding to the physical address value of the fifth memory block BLOCK5 and ‘040’ corresponding to the physical address value of the first memory block BLOCK1 are stored in the first table RE BLK TB 1 of the regenerated block table 900, the controller 130 may first store ‘200’ having the first arrangement order and then store ‘040’ having the second arrangement order, in order to sort the physical address values to correspond to the first condition. According to the arrangement orders of the physical address values stored in the first table RE BLK TB 1 of the regenerated block table 900, the first regenerated memory block RE BLOCK 1 may replace I word lines from the first word line WL<1> to the Ith word line WL<I> through the fifth memory block BLOCK5, and replace I word lines from the (I+1)th word line WL<I+1> to the (2I)th word line WL<2I> through the first memory block BLOCK1.

The controller 130 may set two additional physical address values of 240 and 280, which do not overlap the physical address values (000, 040, 080, 120, 160 and 200) of the memory blocks BLOCK<0:5>, to values indicating the two tables RE BLK TB<0:1> stored in the regenerated block table 900. Through this operation, the controller 130 may set the two additional physical address values of 240 and 280 to the physical address values of the two regenerated memory blocks RE BLOCK<0:1>.

Therefore, when accessing the zeroth reused memory block RE BLOCK 0, the controller 130 may refer to the physical address value of ‘240’ indicating the first row of the reused block table 900, select the upper I word lines WL<1:I> in the second memory block BLOCK2, and select the lower I word lines WL<I+1:2I> in the zeroth memory block BLOCK0. Similarly, when accessing the first reused memory block RE BLOCK 1, the controller 130 may refer to the physical address value of ‘280’ indicating the second row of the reused block table 900, select the upper I word lines WL<1:I> in the fifth memory block BLOCK5, and select the lower I word lines WL<I+1:2I> in the first memory block BLOCK1.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a method for managing a physical address of a reused normal memory block for a reused super memory block.

Referring to FIG. 10, the memory device 150 may include four memory dies DIE<0:3>, and each of the four memory dies DIE<0:3> may include two planes PLANE<0:1>.

FIG. 10 illustrates that a total of eight planes (PLANE<0:1>*4) included in the four memory dies DIE<0:3> input/output data through two channels CH1 and CH1 and four ways WAY0 to WAY3. That is, in the memory device 150, one channel CH1 or CH2 is shared by two ways WAY<0,2> or WAY<1,3>, and one way WAY0, WAY1, WAY2 or WAY3 is shared by two planes PLANE<0:1>.

Although not illustrated in FIG. 10, the third method among the methods in which the controller 130 divides super memory blocks may be applied to the state of FIG. 10. In this case, the controller 130 may select an arbitrary memory block in each of the eight planes (PLANE<0:1>*4) and manage the selected memory block as one super memory block. That is, one super memory block may include eight memory blocks.

In the above-described state, physical addresses indicating all memory blocks included in the memory device 150 may be set between ‘0x0000’ and ‘0x4000’. FIG. 10 illustrates physical address space 1001, to which physical address values from ‘0x0000’ to ‘0x4000’ are allocated for the memory blocks included in the memory device 150.

Thus, as described with reference to FIG. 9, the controller 130 in accordance with the present embodiment may set independent physical addresses for reused memory block information RE BLK TB<D[0:3], P[0:1]>, each of which is stored in the reused block table 900 and represents reused memory blocks for corresponding one among the eight planes PLANE<0:1>*4 of the four dies DIE<0:3>, other than the physical addresses of ‘0x0000’ to ‘0x4000’ for the memory blocks included in the memory device 150. FIG. 10 illustrates physical address spaces 1010 to 1080, to which physical address values from ‘0x4000’ to ‘0x6000’ are allocated for the reused memory blocks respectively for the eight planes PLANE<0:1>*4 of the four dies DIE<0:3>.

For example, as exemplified in FIG. 10, physical address values from ‘0x4000’ to ‘0x4400’ may be allocated to physical address space 1010 for the reused memory blocks for the zeroth plane PLANE0 of the zeroth memory die DIE0. Furthermore, physical address values from ‘0x4400’ to ‘0x4800’ may be allocated to physical address space 1020 for the reused memory blocks for the first plane PLANE1 of the zeroth memory die DIE0. Furthermore, physical address values from ‘0x4800’ to ‘0x4C00’ may be allocated to physical address space 1030 for the reused memory blocks for the zeroth plane PLANE0 of the first memory die DIE1. Furthermore, physical address values from ‘0x4C00’ to ‘0x5000’ may be allocated to physical address space 1040 for the reused memory blocks for the first plane PLANE1 of the first memory die DIE1. Furthermore, physical address values from ‘0x5000’ to ‘0x5400’ may be allocated to physical address space 1050 for the reused memory blocks for the zeroth plane PLANE0 of the second memory die DIE2. Furthermore, physical address values from ‘0x5400’ to ‘0x5800’ may be allocated to physical address space 1060 for the reused memory blocks for the first plane PLANE1 of the second memory die DIE2. Furthermore, physical address values from ‘0x5800’ to ‘0x5C00’ may be allocated to physical address space 1070 for the reused memory blocks for the zeroth plane PLANE0 of the third memory die DIE3. Furthermore, physical address values from ‘0x5C00’ to ‘0x6000’ may be allocated to physical address space 1080 for the reused memory blocks for the first plane PLANE1 of the third memory die DIE3.

As described with reference to FIG. 9, physical addresses 1011 and 1013 (corresponding to physical addresses ‘080’ and ‘000’ and ‘200’ and ‘040’ in FIG. 9) of the bad memory blocks which are grouped by N (i.e., a number of word line groups to be included in a single memory block) in each of the reused memory block information RE BLK TB<D[0:3], P[0:1]> stored in the reused block table 900 may be selected from physical addresses indicating bad memory blocks having normal word line groups among the physical addresses of ‘0x0000’ to ‘0x4000’ indicating all of the memory blocks included in the memory device 150.

Hereafter, referring to FIGS. 11 to 19, a data processing system and electronic devices, to which the memory system 110 including the memory device 150 and the controller 130 and described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 10 is applied, will be described in more detail.

FIGS. 11 to 19 are diagrams schematically illustrating application examples of the data processing system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 11 is a diagram schematically illustrating another example of the data processing system including the memory system in accordance with the present embodiment. FIG. 11 schematically illustrates a memory card system to which the memory system in accordance with the present embodiment is applied.

Referring to FIG. 11, the memory card system 6100 may include a memory controller 6120, a memory device 6130 and a connector 6110.

More specifically, the memory controller 6120 may be connected to the memory device 6130 embodied by a nonvolatile memory, and configured to access the memory device 6130. For example, the memory controller 6120 may be configured to control read, write, erase and background operations of the memory device 6130. The memory controller 6120 may be configured to provide an interface between the memory device 6130 and a host, and drive firmware for controlling the memory device 6130. That is, the memory controller 6120 may correspond to the controller 130 of the memory system 110 described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 5, and the memory device 6130 may correspond to the memory device 150 of the memory system 110 described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 5.

Thus, the memory controller 6120 may include a RAM, a processing unit, a host interface, a memory interface and an error correction unit. The memory controller 130 may further include the elements shown in FIG. 5.

The memory controller 6120 may communicate with an external device, for example, the host 102 of FIG. 1 through the connector 6110. For example, as described with reference to FIG. 1, the memory controller 6120 may be configured to communicate with an external device through one or more of various communication protocols such as universal serial bus (USB), multimedia card (MMC), embedded MMC (eMMC), peripheral component interconnection (PCI), PCI express (PCIe), Advanced Technology Attachment (ATA), Serial-ATA, Parallel-ATA, small computer system interface (SCSI), enhanced small disk interface (EDSI), Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE), Firewire, universal flash storage (UFS), WIFI and Bluetooth. Thus, the memory system and the data processing system in accordance with the present embodiment may be applied to wired/wireless electronic devices or particularly mobile electronic devices.

The memory device 6130 may be implemented by a nonvolatile memory. For example, the memory device 6130 may be implemented by various nonvolatile memory devices such as an erasable and programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable and programmable ROM (EEPROM), a NAND flash memory, a NOR flash memory, a phase-change RAM (PRAM), a resistive RAM (ReRAM), a ferroelectric RAM (FRAM) and a spin torque transfer magnetic RAM (STT-RAM). The memory device 6130 may include a plurality of dies as in the memory device 150 of FIG. 5.

The memory controller 6120 and the memory device 6130 may be integrated into a single semiconductor device. For example, the memory controller 6120 and the memory device 6130 may construct a solid state driver (SSD) by being integrated into a single semiconductor device. Also, the memory controller 6120 and the memory device 6130 may construct a memory card such as a PC card (PCMCIA: Personal Computer Memory Card International Association), a compact flash (CF) card, a smart media card (e.g., SM and SMC), a memory stick, a multimedia card (e.g., MMC, RS-MMC, MMCmicro and eMMC), an SD card (e.g., SD, miniSD, microSD and SDHC) and a universal flash storage (UFS).

FIG. 12 is a diagram schematically illustrating another example of the data processing system including the memory system in accordance with the present embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 12, the data processing system 6200 may include a memory device 6230 having one or more nonvolatile memories and a memory controller 6220 for controlling the memory device 6230. The data processing system 6200 illustrated in FIG. 12 may serve as a storage medium such as a memory card (CF, SD, micro-SD or the like) or USB device, as described with reference to FIG. 1. The memory device 6230 may correspond to the memory device 150 in the memory system 110 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 5, and the memory controller 6220 may correspond to the controller 130 in the memory system 110 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 5.

The memory controller 6220 may control a read, write or erase operation on the memory device 6230 in response to a request of the host 6210, and the memory controller 6220 may include one or more CPUs 6221, a buffer memory such as RAM 6222, an ECC circuit 6223, a host interface 6224 and a memory interface such as an NVM interface 6225.

The CPU 6221 may control overall operations on the memory device 6230, for example, read, write, file system management and bad page management operations. The RAM 6222 may be operated according to control of the CPU 6221, and used as a work memory, buffer memory or cache memory. When the RAM 6222 is used as a work memory, data processed by the CPU 6221 may be temporarily stored in the RAM 6222. When the RAM 6222 is used as a buffer memory, the RAM 6222 may be used for buffering data transmitted to the memory device 6230 from the host 6210 or transmitted to the host 6210 from the memory device 6230. When the RAM 6222 is used as a cache memory, the RAM 6222 may assist the low-speed memory device 6230 to operate at high speed.

The ECC circuit 6223 may correspond to the ECC unit 138 of the controller 130 illustrated in FIG. 1. As described with reference to FIG. 1, the ECC circuit 6223 may generate an ECC (Error Correction Code) for correcting a fail bit or error bit of data provided from the memory device 6230. The ECC circuit 6223 may perform error correction encoding on data provided to the memory device 6230, thereby forming data with a parity bit. The parity bit may be stored in the memory device 6230. The ECC circuit 6223 may perform error correction decoding on data outputted from the memory device 6230. At this time, the ECC circuit 6223 may correct an error using the parity bit. For example, as described with reference to FIG. 1, the ECC circuit 6223 may correct an error using the LDPC code, BCH code, turbo code, Reed-Solomon code, convolution code, RSC or coded modulation such as TCM or BCM.

The memory controller 6220 may transmit/receive data to/from the host 6210 through the host interface 6224, and transmit/receive data to/from the memory device 6230 through the NVM interface 6225. The host interface 6224 may be connected to the host 6210 through a PATA bus, SATA bus, SCSI, USB, PCIe or NAND interface. The memory controller 6220 may have a wireless communication function with a mobile communication protocol such as WiFi or Long Term Evolution (LTE). The memory controller 6220 may be connected to an external device, for example, the host 6210 or another external device, and then transmit/receive data to/from the external device. In particular, as the memory controller 6220 is configured to communicate with the external device through one or more of various communication protocols, the memory system and the data processing system in accordance with the present embodiment may be applied to wired/wireless electronic devices or particularly a mobile electronic device.

FIG. 13 is a diagram schematically illustrating another example of the data processing system including the memory system in accordance with the present embodiment. FIG. 13 schematically illustrates an SSD to which the memory system in accordance with the present embodiment is applied.

Referring to FIG. 13, the SSD 6300 may include a controller 6320 and a memory device 6340 including a plurality of nonvolatile memories. The controller 6320 may correspond to the controller 130 in the memory system 110 of FIGS. 1 and 5, and the memory device 6340 may correspond to the memory device 150 in the memory system of FIGS. 1 and 5.

More specifically, the controller 6320 may be connected to the memory device 6340 through a plurality of channels CH1 to CHi. The controller 6320 may include one or more processors 6321, a buffer memory 6325, an ECC circuit 6322, a host interface 6324 and a memory interface, for example, a nonvolatile memory interface 6326.

The buffer memory 6325 may temporarily store data provided from the host 6310 or data provided from a plurality of flash memories NVM included in the memory device 6340, or temporarily store meta data of the plurality of flash memories NVM, for example, map data including a mapping table. The buffer memory 6325 may be embodied by volatile memories such as DRAM, SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, LPDDR SDRAM and GRAM or nonvolatile memories such as FRAM, ReRAM, STT-MRAM and PRAM. For convenience of description, FIG. 12 illustrates that the buffer memory 6325 exists in the controller 6320. However, the buffer memory 6325 may exist outside the controller 6320.

The ECC circuit 6322 may calculate an ECC value of data to be programmed to the memory device 6340 during a program operation, perform an error correction operation on data read from the memory device 6340 based on the ECC value during a read operation, and perform an error correction operation on data recovered from the memory device 6340 during a failed data recovery operation.

The host interface 6324 may provide an interface function with an external device, for example, the host 6310, and the nonvolatile memory interface 6326 may provide an interface function with the memory device 6340 connected through the plurality of channels.

Furthermore, a plurality of SSDs 6300 to which the memory system 110 of FIGS. 1 and 5 is applied may be provided to embody a data processing system, for example, RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) system. At this time, the RAID system may include the plurality of SSDs 6300 and a RAID controller for controlling the plurality of SSDs 6300. When the RAID controller performs a program operation in response to a write command provided from the host 6310, the RAID controller may select one or more memory systems or SSDs 6300 according to a plurality of RAID levels, that is, RAID level information of the write command provided from the host 6310 in the SSDs 6300, and output data corresponding to the write command to the selected SSDs 6300. Furthermore, when the RAID controller performs a read command in response to a read command provided from the host 6310, the RAID controller may select one or more memory systems or SSDs 6300 according to a plurality of RAID levels, that is, RAID level information of the read command provided from the host 6310 in the SSDs 6300, and provide data read from the selected SSDs 6300 to the host 6310.

FIG. 14 is a diagram schematically illustrating another example of the data processing system including the memory system in accordance with the present embodiment. FIG. 14 schematically illustrates an embedded Multi-Media Card (eMMC) to which the memory system in accordance with the present embodiment is applied.

Referring to FIG. 14, the eMMC 6400 may include a controller 6430 and a memory device 6440 embodied by one or more NAND flash memories. The controller 6430 may correspond to the controller 130 in the memory system 110 of FIGS. 1 and 5, and the memory device 6440 may correspond to the memory device 150 in the memory system 110 of FIGS. 1 and 5.

More specifically, the controller 6430 may be connected to the memory device 6440 through a plurality of channels. The controller 6430 may include one or more cores 6432, a host interface 6431 and a memory interface, for example, a NAND interface 6433.

The core 6432 may control overall operations of the eMMC 6400, the host interface 6431 may provide an interface function between the controller 6430 and the host 6410, and the NAND interface 6433 may provide an interface function between the memory device 6440 and the controller 6430. For example, the host interface 6431 may serve as a parallel interface, for example, MMC interface as described with reference to FIG. 1. Furthermore, the host interface 6431 may serve as a serial interface, for example, UHS ((Ultra High Speed)-I/UHS-II) interface.

FIGS. 15 to 18 are diagrams schematically illustrating other examples of the data processing system including the memory system in accordance with the present embodiment. FIGS. 15 to 18 schematically illustrate UFS (Universal Flash Storage) systems to which the memory system in accordance with the present embodiment is applied.

Referring to FIGS. 15 to 18, the UFS systems 6500, 6600, 6700 and 6800 may include hosts 6510, 6610, 6710 and 6810, UFS devices 6520, 6620, 6720 and 6820 and UFS cards 6530, 6630, 6730 and 6830, respectively. The hosts 6510, 6610, 6710 and 6810 may serve as application processors of wired/wireless electronic devices or particularly mobile electronic devices, the UFS devices 6520, 6620, 6720 and 6820 may serve as embedded UFS devices, and the UFS cards 6530, 6630, 6730 and 6830 may serve as external embedded UFS devices or removable UFS cards.

The hosts 6510, 6610, 6710 and 6810, the UFS devices 6520, 6620, 6720 and 6820 and the UFS cards 6530, 6630, 6730 and 6830 in the respective UFS systems 6500, 6600, 6700 and 6800 may communicate with external devices, for example, wired/wireless electronic devices or particularly mobile electronic devices through UFS protocols, and the UFS devices 6520, 6620, 6720 and 6820 and the UFS cards 6530, 6630, 6730 and 6830 may be embodied by the memory system 110 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 5. For example, in the UFS systems 6500, 6600, 6700 and 6800, the UFS devices 6520, 6620, 6720 and 6820 may be embodied in the form of the data processing system 6200, the SSD 6300 or the eMMC 6400 described with reference to FIGS. 12 to 14, and the UFS cards 6530, 6630, 6730 and 6830 may be embodied in the form of the memory card system 6100 described with reference to FIG. 11.

Furthermore, in the UFS systems 6500, 6600, 6700 and 6800, the hosts 6510, 6610, 6710 and 6810, the UFS devices 6520, 6620, 6720 and 6820 and the UFS cards 6530, 6630, 6730 and 6830 may communicate with each other through an UFS interface, for example, MIPI M-PHY and MIPI UniPro (Unified Protocol) in MIPI (Mobile Industry Processor Interface). Furthermore, the UFS devices 6520, 6620, 6720 and 6820 and the UFS cards 6530, 6630, 6730 and 6830 may communicate with each other through various protocols other than the UFS protocol, for example, UFDs, MMC, SD, mini-SD, and micro-SD.

In the UFS system 6500 illustrated in FIG. 15, each of the host 6510, the UFS device 6520 and the UFS card 6530 may include UniPro. The host 6510 may perform a switching operation in order to communicate with the UFS device 6520 and the UFS card 6530. In particular, the host 6510 may communicate with the UFS device 6520 or the UFS card 6530 through link layer switching, for example, L3 switching at the UniPro. At this time, the UFS device 6520 and the UFS card 6530 may communicate with each other through link layer switching at the UniPro of the host 6510. In the present embodiment, the configuration in which one UFS device 6520 and one UFS card 6530 are connected to the host 6510 has been exemplified for convenience of description. However, a plurality of UFS devices and UFS cards may be connected in parallel or in the form of a star to the host 6410, and a plurality of UFS cards may be connected in parallel or in the form of a star to the UFS device 6520 or connected in series or in the form of a chain to the UFS device 6520.

In the UFS system 6600 illustrated in FIG. 16, each of the host 6610, the UFS device 6620 and the UFS card 6630 may include UniPro, and the host 6610 may communicate with the UFS device 6620 or the UFS card 6630 through a switching module 6640 performing a switching operation, for example, through the switching module 6640 which performs link layer switching at the UniPro, for example, L3 switching. The UFS device 6620 and the UFS card 6630 may communicate with each other through link layer switching of the switching module 6640 at UniPro. In the present embodiment, the configuration in which one UFS device 6620 and one UFS card 6630 are connected to the switching module 6640 has been exemplified for convenience of description. However, a plurality of UFS devices and UFS cards may be connected in parallel or in the form of a star to the switching module 6640, and a plurality of UFS cards may be connected in series or in the form of a chain to the UFS device 6620.

In the UFS system 6700 illustrated in FIG. 17, each of the host 6710, the UFS device 6720 and the UFS card 6730 may include UniPro, and the host 6710 may communicate with the UFS device 6720 or the UFS card 6730 through a switching module 6740 performing a switching operation, for example, through the switching module 6740 which performs link layer switching at the UniPro, for example, L3 switching. At this time, the UFS device 6720 and the UFS card 6730 may communicate with each other through link layer switching of the switching module 6740 at the UniPro, and the switching module 6740 may be integrated as one module with the UFS device 6720 inside or outside the UFS device 6720. In the present embodiment, the configuration in which one UFS device 6720 and one UFS card 6730 are connected to the switching module 6740 has been exemplified for convenience of description. However, a plurality of modules each including the switching module 6740 and the UFS device 6720 may be connected in parallel or in the form of a star to the host 6710 or connected in series or in the form of a chain to each other. Furthermore, a plurality of UFS cards may be connected in parallel or in the form of a star to the UFS device 6720.

In the UFS system 6800 illustrated in FIG. 18, each of the host 6810, the UFS device 6820 and the UFS card 6830 may include M-PHY and UniPro. The UFS device 6820 may perform a switching operation in order to communicate with the host 6810 and the UFS card 6830. In particular, the UFS device 6820 may communicate with the host 6810 or the UFS card 6830 through a switching operation between the M-PHY and UniPro module for communication with the host 6810 and the M-PHY and UniPro module for communication with the UFS card 6830, for example, through a target ID (Identifier) switching operation. At this time, the host 6810 and the UFS card 6830 may communicate with each other through target ID switching between the M-PHY and UniPro modules of the UFS device 6820. In the present embodiment, the configuration in which one UFS device 6820 is connected to the host 6810 and one UFS card 6830 is connected to the UFS device 6820 has been exemplified for convenience of description. However, a plurality of UFS devices may be connected in parallel or in the form of a star to the host 6810, or connected in series or in the form of a chain to the host 6810, and a plurality of UFS cards may be connected in parallel or in the form of a star to the UFS device 6820, or connected in series or in the form of a chain to the UFS device 6820.

FIG. 19 is a diagram schematically illustrating another example of the data processing system including the memory system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 19 is a diagram schematically illustrating a user system to which the memory system in accordance with the present embodiment is applied.

Referring to FIG. 19, the user system 6900 may include an application processor 6930, a memory module 6920, a network module 6940, a storage module 6950 and a user interface 6910.

More specifically, the application processor 6930 may drive components included in the user system 6900, for example, an OS, and include controllers, interfaces and a graphic engine which control the components included in the user system 6900. The application processor 6930 may be provided as System-on-Chip (SoC).

The memory module 6920 may be used as a main memory, work memory, buffer memory or cache memory of the user system 6900. The memory module 6920 may include a volatile RAM such as DRAM, SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, DDR2 SDRAM, DDR3 SDRAM, LPDDR SDARM, LPDDR3 SDRAM or LPDDR3 SDRAM or a nonvolatile RAM such as PRAM, ReRAM, MRAM or FRAM. For example, the application processor 6930 and the memory module 6920 may be packaged and mounted, based on POP (Package on Package).

The network module 6940 may communicate with external devices. For example, the network module 6940 may not only support wired communication, but also support various wireless communication protocols such as code division multiple access (CDMA), global system for mobile communication (GSM), wideband CDMA (WCDMA), CDMA-2000, time division multiple access (TDMA), long term evolution (LTE), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (Wimax), wireless local area network (WLAN), ultra-wideband (UWB), Bluetooth, wireless display (WI-DI), thereby communicating with wired/wireless electronic devices or particularly mobile electronic devices. Therefore, the memory system and the data processing system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, can be applied to wired/wireless electronic devices. The network module 6940 may be included in the application processor 6930.

The storage module 6950 may store data, for example, data received from the application processor 6930, and then may transmit the stored data to the application processor 6930. The storage module 6950 may be embodied by a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device such as a phase-change RAM (PRAM), a magnetic RAM (MRAM), a resistive RAM (ReRAM), a NAND flash, NOR flash and 3D NAND flash, and provided as a removable storage medium such as a memory card or external drive of the user system 6900. The storage module 6950 may correspond to the memory system 110 described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 5. Furthermore, the storage module 6950 may be embodied as an SSD, eMMC and UFS as described above with reference to FIGS. 13 to 18.

The user interface 6910 may include interfaces for inputting data or commands to the application processor 6930 or outputting data to an external device. For example, the user interface 6910 may include user input interfaces such as a keyboard, a keypad, a button, a touch panel, a touch screen, a touch pad, a touch ball, a camera, a microphone, a gyroscope sensor, a vibration sensor and a piezoelectric element, and user output interfaces such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display device, an active matrix OLED (AMOLED) display device, an LED, a speaker and a motor.

Furthermore, when the memory system 110 of FIGS. 1 and 5 is applied to a mobile electronic device of the user system 6900, the application processor 6930 may control overall operations of the mobile electronic device, and the network module 6940 may serve as a communication module for controlling wired/wireless communication with an external device. The user interface 6910 may display data processed by the processor 6930 on a display/touch module of the mobile electronic device, or support a function of receiving data from the touch panel.

In accordance with the present embodiments, the memory system and the operation method thereof can collect normal word lines excluding a preset number of word lines adjacent to bad word lines in each of a plurality of bad memory blocks including bad word lines, and uses the collected normal word lines as reused memory blocks capable of performing a normal operation.

Thus, the bad memory blocks including bad word lines can be reduced.

Although various embodiments have been described for illustrative purposes, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various other embodiments, changes and modifications thereof may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A memory system comprising: a memory device comprising a plurality of memory blocks each having N word line groups; and a controller suitable for: selecting bad memory blocks among the plurality of memory blocks, arranging normal word line groups of the selected bad memory blocks into one or more memory-block-word-line groups each including non-conflicting N normal word line groups, and managing each of the memory-block-word-line groups as a reused memory block.
 2. The memory system of claim 1, wherein the controller further generates a reused block table which stores one or more reused memory block information respectively corresponding to the memory-block-word-line groups, and wherein each of the reused memory block information has N regions respectively representing the non-conflicting N normal word line groups included in the corresponding memory-block-word-line group through physical addresses of selected bad memory blocks of the corresponding memory-block-word-line groups.
 3. The memory system of claim 2, wherein the controller further allocates physical addresses to the respective reused memory block information, and wherein the physical addresses of the respective reused memory block information are different from physical addresses of the plurality of memory blocks.
 4. The memory system of claim 3, wherein a sequence of the physical addresses stored in the N regions of the respective reused memory block information corresponds to an arrangement sequence of the non-conflicting N normal word line groups included in the corresponding memory-block-word-line group.
 5. The memory system of claim 4, wherein the controller sorts the arrangement sequence of the physical addresses included in each of the reused memory block information stored in the reused block table such that the N normal word line groups included in the corresponding memory-block-word-line group do not conflict with each other.
 6. The memory system of claim 4, wherein the controller further manages the plurality of memory blocks as a plurality of super memory blocks each including two or more among the plurality of memory blocks, and wherein the controller further generates a reused super memory block by grouping normal memory blocks of two or more bad super memory blocks including one or more bad memory blocks among the plurality of super memory blocks.
 7. The memory system of claim 6, wherein the controller generates the reused super memory block further by replacing a bad memory block included in the two or more bad super memory blocks with the reused memory block.
 8. The memory system of claim 7, wherein the memory device further comprises: a plurality of planes corresponding to a plurality of ways which share one channel to input/output data in an interleaving manner, respectively, and each comprising the memory blocks; and a plurality of memory dies corresponding to a plurality of channels for inputting/outputting data in an interleaving manner, respectively, and each comprising the planes.
 9. The memory system of claim 8, wherein the controller comprises, in the plurality of super memory blocks each: grouping one arbitrary memory block included in a first plane and one arbitrary memory block included in a second plane in any one memory die of the memory dies, or grouping one arbitrary memory block included in a first plane of a first memory die, one arbitrary memory block included in a second plane of the first memory die, one arbitrary memory block included in a first plane of a second memory die, and one arbitrary memory block included in a second plane of the second memory die, among the memory dies.
 10. The memory system of claim 8, wherein the controller comprises, in the plurality of super memory blocks each: grouping one arbitrary memory block included in a first plane of a first memory die and one arbitrary memory block included in a first plane of a second memory die, among the memory dies; and grouping one arbitrary memory block included in a second plane of the first memory die and one arbitrary memory block included in a second plane of the second memory die.
 11. An operation method of a memory system which includes a memory device having a plurality of memory blocks each including N word line groups, the operation method comprising: selecting bad memory blocks among the plurality of memory blocks, arranging normal word line groups of the selected bad memory blocks into one or more memory-block-word-line groups each including non-conflicting N normal word line groups, and managing each of the memory-block-word-line groups as a reused memory block.
 12. The operation method of claim 11, further comprising generating a reused block table which stores one or more reused memory block information respectively corresponding to the memory-block-word-line groups, and wherein each of the reused memory block information has N regions respectively representing the non-conflicting N normal word line groups included in the corresponding memory-block-word-line group through physical addresses of selected bad memory blocks of the corresponding memory-block-word-line groups.
 13. The operation method of claim 12, further comprising allocating physical addresses to the respective reused memory block information, and wherein the physical addresses of the respective reused memory block information are different from physical addresses of the plurality of memory blocks.
 14. The operation method of claim 13, wherein a sequence of the physical addresses stored in the N regions of the respective reused memory block information corresponds to an arrangement sequence of the non-conflicting N normal word line groups included in the corresponding memory-block-word-line group.
 15. The operation method of claim 14, wherein the grouping of the normal word line groups comprises sorting the arrangement sequence of the physical addresses included in each of the reused memory block information stored in the reused block table such that the N normal word line groups included in the corresponding memory-block-word-line group do not conflict with each other.
 16. The operation method of claim 14, further comprising: managing the plurality of memory blocks as a plurality of super memory blocks each including two or more among the plurality of memory blocks, and generating a reused super memory block by grouping normal memory blocks of two or more bad super memory blocks including one or more bad memory blocks among the plurality of super memory blocks.
 17. The operation method of claim 16, wherein the generating of the reused super memory block further comprising replacing a bad memory block included in the two or more bad super memory blocks with the reused memory block.
 18. The operation method of claim 17, wherein the memory device further includes: a plurality of planes corresponding to a plurality of ways which share one channel to input/output data in an interleaving manner, respectively, and each including the memory blocks; and a plurality of memory dies corresponding to a plurality of channels for inputting/outputting data in an interleaving manner, respectively, and each including the planes.
 19. The operation method of claim 18, wherein the plurality of super memory blocks each comprises: grouping one arbitrary memory block included in a first plane and one arbitrary memory block included in a second plane in any one memory die of the memory dies, or grouping one arbitrary memory block included in a first plane of a first memory die, one arbitrary memory block included in a second plane of the first memory die, one arbitrary memory block included in a first plane of a second memory die, and one arbitrary memory block included in a second plane of the second memory die, among the memory dies.
 20. The operation method of claim 18, wherein the plurality of super memory blocks each comprises: grouping one arbitrary memory block included in a first plane of a first memory die and one arbitrary memory block included in a first plane of a second memory die, among the memory dies; and grouping one arbitrary memory block included in a second plane of the first memory die and one arbitrary memory block included in a second plane of the second memory die. 